Setting clocks forward in the spring and back in the fall could become a thing of the past for millions of Americans. The House of Representatives passed a bill yesterday that would allow daylight saving time to remain in effect year-round—a proposal backed by President Donald Trump that seeks to end the biannual time change but has also reignited an intense debate over its potential effects on health, safety, and daily life.
The so-called Sunshine Protection Act was passed by a vote of 308 in favor and 117 against, reflecting broad bipartisan support in the House. However, its future remains uncertain, as it must still be debated in the Senate, where some lawmakers from both parties have expressed doubts about its potential consequences.
If it becomes law, the measure would allow states to adopt daylight saving time permanently, eliminating the practice of setting clocks forward in March and back in November. Currently, that decision is governed by federal law, which is why laws passed in several states have not yet been able to take effect.
What does the initiative propose?
The proposal aims to end a system that has been in place for decades and requires most Americans to change their clocks twice a year.
Its proponents argue that keeping daylight saving time year-round would provide more daylight in the afternoon and eliminate the disruptions caused by changing the clocks twice a year. President Trump has repeatedly expressed his support for eliminating the time change, calling it an unnecessary practice.
Currently, 19 states have already passed laws to permanently adopt daylight saving time if Congress authorizes that option. However, those laws remain unenforceable because federal law does not allow daylight saving time to be observed year-round.
Exceptions to the current system include Hawaii and most of Arizona, which already remain on standard time year-round, as do U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Opponents of the proposal argue that maintaining daylight saving time during the winter months would result in much later sunrises. In some parts of the country, the sun would rise after 9:00 a.m., while many cities would see sunrises after 8:00 a.m.
Sleep medicine specialists believe that morning light helps synchronize the body’s internal clock and promotes alertness, while delaying sunrise could affect rest, performance, and health, especially among children and adolescents. There are also safety concerns during winter mornings, when millions of people would have to leave home before sunrise.
On the other hand, supporters of permanent daylight saving time argue that having more daylight in the afternoon would boost economic activity, encourage outdoor recreation, and could even lead to benefits related to energy savings and a reduction in certain crimes and accidents.
The debate over daylight saving time is not new. The United States established the federal framework for time zones in 1918, and since the passage of the Uniform Time Act of 1966, most of the country has been setting its clocks forward and back each year. The country experimented with permanent daylight saving time during the energy crisis of the 1970s, but abandoned the measure after public support waned due to late sunrises during the winter.
More recently, in 2022, the Senate unanimously approved a similar version of the Sunshine Protection Act, but that bill was never brought to a vote in the House of Representatives.
Now the process is happening in reverse. The House has already given its approval, but the Senate is once again becoming the main obstacle to a proposal that divides opinion among both lawmakers and experts. Polls show that a large majority of Americans would prefer to do away with the twice-yearly time changes. However, the country still cannot agree on what the permanent time should be.
